Books: "Food Fight"; "The Woods"

This is where you can get information about many of the books featured on The Early Show in April.

Monday, April 30, 2007

"Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World," by Dr. David Ludwig

Most of the weight-loss books on the market are designed for adults, and that's bad news for overweight children, since what works for adults doesn't necessarily work for kids.

Trending News

But Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital in Boston, has age-appropriate advice for these kids and their families in his new book, "Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World."

What is the "food fight"?

Ludwig says, "For many families, weight loss is like warfare. All the family energy goes into the conflict between parent and child, and there's not much left for the weight problem."

He continues, "The battle takes place in three places - within the individual, within the home, and then within our communities and society."

"The Woods" centers on a man struggling to balance family life and a busy career, when his complicated past suddenly comes back to haunt him.

Coben notes that all his books are in some way inspired by his life. "The Woods" draws on the fact that when he was 17, he was a counselor at a sleep-away camp. Looking back, he realized that the job had far too much responsibility for a teenage boy, and began to wonder what he would have done if something has happened on his watch.

Coben points out that there's far more suspense in "The Woods" than in mnay of his other works, and almost no violence. He says that was deliberate.

He also chose to have no clear-cut good guys or bad guys -- there are lots of shades of gray.

Dodman had two puppies with him on The Early Show set, Achilles and Snow White. Both are available for adoption from Bide-a-Wee, an animal shelter in Wantagh, on Long Island, N.Y., as are hundreds of other dogs and cats. For word on how to adopt a pet from the Bide-A-Wee,click here, or call (516) 785-4079. Bide-A-Wee also has a Manhattan location. That phone number is (212) 532-4455.

He tells CBS News identity theft is much easier now than ever: "When I wanted to assume someone's identity 40 years ago, I had to go into the county records, look up a death certificate for a child, figure out who their parents are, obtain a birth certificate. The process took several days. Today, this can all be done in 30 minutes. It's so simple that you could scribble a friend's phone number and accidentally leave it by a pay phone and someone could use that to steal the person's identity."

Abagnale adds that, "Anyone can be a victim of this crime, even babies and dead people. I find that young people are targeted often since they are always being offered credit cards. But anyone can be victimized."

To quick preventive measures: "Buy a good paper shredder, one that micro-cuts paper. Ribbon shredders are useless. Those documents can be put back together. One that micro cuts is not more expensive and truly destroys the documents." And, "Find a good monitoring service. It's about $10 a month. I've had one monitoring my credit since 1996. I helped develop Privacy Guard and use that one. But there are several good services. The key to picking the right one is asking them two things: Do they monitor all three credit bureaus, and do they monitor in real-time?"

What if your monitoring service tells you your identity has been stolen?

"If you get a text from them in real-time that you're credit history is being accessed at Macy's in New York, and you're on the beach in Florida, you should call Macy's immediately and tell it to have security find the person who is in the process of opening an account in your name. If your credit report reveals theft, shut down all compromised accounts, call the credit bureau fraud departments, and file a police report."

If you're wondering how much working out you have ahead to get in shape for swimsuit season, fitness expert Minna Lessig's answer is -- only ten minutes a day.

She offers simple exercises in her new book and DVD, "Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom," and she demonstrated several on The Early Show.

The DVD and book are sold separately.

The book presents Minna's four-week sculpting program to help women tone their trouble spots. Each workout includes mind and body exercises: Instead of resting between sets, readers engage in positive visualization exercises created to enhance their well-being and self-esteem. And, with the jump start program, you can get results in as little as 10 days.

Lessig says the book is for everyone from beginners to fitness fanatics, and for exercising at home or at the gym. There are novice, skilled, and master-level exercises and, within each exercise is a beginner, intermediate, and advanced version. Lessig also included correlating "at the gym" exercises, for people who exercise there.

The DVD offers three workouts, each focusing on one body part (arms, belly and butt). It also includes a 15-minute total body circuit that includes some of Lessig's favorite dynamic compound exercises for quick results. Two sets of weights, one light and one heavier, are recommended. Two other fitness pros demonstrate modifications of all the moves.

You probably know Victoria Rowell from her role as Drucilla Winters on the CBS daytime drama, "The Young and the Restless."

But, she's left TV to pursue other interests, including her new book about growing up as a foster child. It's called "The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir."

It's a thoughtful tribute to the women who helped Rowell become the dynamic, successful person she is today. She grew up as a foster child in Maine. Her book is full of love for and gratitude toward these women, who helped Rowell turn what might be considered a challenging beginning in life into something positive.

Rowell says she sincerely loves all the surrogate moms, mentors and friends she's had through the years, and even honors the woman who gave birth to her, but couldn't raise her.

In discussing the book on The Early Show Thursday, Rowell speaks about several of the women who raised her. Rowell adds that she was a "journalist" of sorts, researching and digging for clues into her past as well as the lives of the women who impacted her.

Since 1999, Rowell has been working on a documentary about them called, "The Mentor."

She is appearing in a film with Samuel L. Jackson called "Home of the Brave," which will be released on May 11.

"From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease," by Kathy Kastan

Eight million American women live with heart disease.

Kathy Kastan was in her early 40s, athletic and apparently healthy, when she needed emergency heart bypass surgery.

Then, when she was laid low by the emotional impact of her illness, she wrote a book about it, " "From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease."

Kastan discussed it on The Early Show Thursday. To watch the interview, click here.

To read an excerpt of "From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease,"click here. The excerpt is provided courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books, copyright 2007, all rights reserved.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

"The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border," by Teresa Rodriguez and Diana Montane, with Lisa Pulitzer

Juarez is just over the Mexican border, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas — but it's a completely different world for many of the women who live there. For more than a decade it has become one of the worst cities to live in if you are poor, young and female.

And, since 1993, the bodies of more than 400 women have been found there.

Teresa Rodriguez discusses the killings, and life in Juarez, in a book she co-authored, "The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border." She stopped by The Early Show Wednesday to talk about it. To see the segment,

It is, naturally, suspenseful. And it's set in Cape Cod, where Clark has had a home for 30 years.

"Ghost Ship" is the story of a friendship between two boys, one visiting his grandmother on summer vacation, the other a cabin boy for a sea captain who has stories galore of his adventures on the high seas.

What prompted Clark to try her hand at a children's book? She says she and Minor were at a signing, when Minor's editor suggested they collaborate. They quickly agreed. "It was almost like ducks in a row," Clark says. "We talked plot for four minutes. I am entrenched in the history of Cape Cod. I've always loved the background and myths and legends. It was easy to create a story, putting together some of the things that happened in the Cape."

Clark admits concern about not knowing "the rules" for writing a children's book, but says this "was very straightforward," and editors changed very little.